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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463636">"What's going on?" Sansby, Bonsai AU</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireFaceOutlook/pseuds/FireFaceOutlook'>FireFaceOutlook</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bone-fide Undertale Shorts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aka Sans and Grillby swap, Alternate Universe - Bonsai AU, Gen, M/M, References to Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, don't read if triggering, stay safe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:01:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,173</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463636</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireFaceOutlook/pseuds/FireFaceOutlook</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Sans…?”<br/>Grillby sounded small, and it wasn’t <em>right</em>.  Grillby was always so lively - <em>always putting on a happy face, even when he wasn’t feeling so bright.</em></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Grillby &amp; Sans (Undertale), Grillby/Sans (Undertale)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bone-fide Undertale Shorts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004574</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>"What's going on?" Sansby, Bonsai AU</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Drop by and leave a prompt if you want - <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/bonelymonsterclub">here</a>.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sans was rudely awoken by loud pounding on his door.  He blearily squinted at his alarm clock, making out that it was nearly one in the morning.  He’d barely been asleep for more than two hours, but the knocking returned, sounding almost desperate, so he rolled out of bed, forgoing his glasses, and staggered out of his bedroom.  When he reached the front door, he yanked it open, permagrin set in a grimace and ready to tear whoever it was a new one, but his words died in his throat at the sight of the flaming mass that took up the space outside his doorway.  Even without his glasses, Sans could clearly see that Grillby looked absolutely <em>miserable</em>, and wasn’t nearly as bright as usual.  He stepped to the side, silently ushering in the elemental, and when he placed a hand on Grillby’s back to guide him out of the way so he could shut the cold out, he frowned in concern when he noticed the other monster flinched away from his touch.  Once the door was shut, he led the way to the living room, pointing to the couch and avoiding touching Grillby again because something was clearly wrong.</p>
<p>“sit,” he ordered.  “i’ll be right back.”</p>
<p>When the ball of light shuffled to do as he was told, Sans hurried back to his room, throwing on a sweater - being a skeleton, the cold <em>went right through him</em>, so he didn’t have any central heating, but his magic’s ability to register temperature - or lackthereof, as it was - went a little out of wack when in the presence of a <em>hot</em> monster like Grillby.  He didn’t want to have a full conversation through chattering teeth and rattling bones.  Once he located his glasses, he returned to the living room.  Now that he wasn’t viewing the world through a perpetual fog, he took one look at Grillby and realized that whatever was going on, it was even worse than he previously thought.  Grillby looked <em>terrible</em>.  His flames were small and dull, almost appearing burgundy, which <em>couldn’t</em> be a healthy change from the gold and orange that usually made up Grillby’s form.  What concerned Sans the most was the spots of hardened magma that dotted Grillby’s hands.</p>
<p>“grillbz... what’s going on?”</p>
<p>The elemental’s shoulders hunched, his arms wrapped around himself tightly, as if to keep at bay the trembling that refused to settle, rippling his weak flames with every movement.  Sans sighed, but he knew that Grillby could be pretty stubborn, so instead of pressing for answers, he rounded the side of the couch to stand before his best customer and friend, reaching slowly for his hands.  Grillby let him unclasp them from where they were stressing the sleeves of his hoodie and examine the marks dotting them.
</p>
<p>Rather than questioning their origin, Sans asked, “are there more?”</p>
<p>Grillby was staring a hole through Sans’ sweater, but he gently extracted his hands and pulled his hoodie off in one swift movement, as if he was afraid to hesitate lest he didn’t go through with the motion.  He wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath, and maybe Sans would’ve been more flustered at the sight of him topless if it hadn’t been for the <em>scores</em> of magma across Grillby’s shoulder, disappearing from sight as they stretched towards his back, down his arms, and smaller spots across his chest and stomach.</p>
<p>“oh stars,” Sans breathed, reaching for one of Grillby’s shoulders slowly, as if the elemental was a startled animal that could flee at any second.  Fortunately, Grillby remained still as stone and Sans carefully started easing healing magic into the hardened “skin,” sagging in relief when it began easing from a charcoal black to a hot orange, like heated metal.  He’d only finished clearing one shoulder when Grillby started speaking.</p>
<p>“... I really messed up, Sans…”</p>
<p>Fire elementals didn’t have natural vocal chords, and like skeleton monsters, had their own language.  They relied heavily on their magic to form words in the common monster tongue, and Grillby’s magic was obviously not up to the task, as his words kept drifting into the warm crackling, like that of a bonfire, that made up his natural language.  Fortunately, Sans happened to have lived in Hotland once and picked up his fair share of fire language, enough to understand what Grillby was saying.  He gave an encouraging hum, hoping the other would elaborate, and Grillby did, though what he had to say sent Sans’ soul plummeting.</p>
<p>“It… It got really bad, Sans.”  <strong>It</strong> being Grillby’s depression.  Sans had dealt with his own stint of mental illness in the past and usually Grillby wasn’t afraid to speak to him on the worst of days, but he also had a habit of isolating himself until the cloud didn’t feel so heavy.  Sans could relate all too well.  “I went to Waterfall.”  The healing magic slowed to a trickle as Sans wrenched his eye lights from the fading magma spots to lock gazes with Grillby.  The flame looked so tired, but also terrified.  “I went there without my hoodie, and - I don’t know what I was <em>thinking</em> - I just sat in a corner and let the water drip on me, but then it started raining and it hurt - I didn’t know where else to go…”
</p>
<p>Sans magic had ground to a halt and his eye lights had extinguished.  Grillby, his dearest friend, had tried to - had <em>nearly</em>…</p>
<p>“Sans…?”</p>
<p>Grillby sounded small, and it wasn’t <em>right</em>.  Grillby was always so lively - <em>always putting on a happy face, even when he wasn’t feeling so bright.</em>  Sans hadn’t even noticed it’d gotten so bad.  In the wake of Sans’ silence, Grillby had returned to looking cornered and shaken, and Sans forced himself to move.  He cupped the elemental’s face, making sure Grillby was <em>looking</em> at him, and chose his words carefully.</p>
<p>“listen to me, grillbz.  next time you feel like that, you <em>need</em> to speak to someone.  even if it’s not me.”  When Grillby tried looking away, Sans ducked to keep his gaze.  “hey.”</p>
<p>“Hey…”  Grillby parroted softly, smiling weakly, and Sans smiled back, even though his soul felt like it was breaking.</p>
<p>“if you ever feel like that again, my door is <em>always</em> open to you.  just remember, grillby… someone really cares about you.”  Sans drew Grillby into a tight hug, closing his eyes as the embrace was returned just as tightly.  “... <em>i</em> really care about you.”</p>
<p>Fire elementals couldn’t shed tears, but they could still cry, and Sans winced as Grillby began sobbing, the sound muffled as he buried his face in the fabric of Sans’ sweater.  The skeleton gently rubbed the other’s back.  It was late, and there was no way he was letting Grillby walk home after what he just found out.  He’d room Grillby for the night - or however many nights Grillby was willing to stay -, and he vowed that from there on out, he’d make sure Grillby was well-aware that he always had a place with him when he hit a low point.</p>
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